REFLECTIVE MEMORANDUM

TO:

AMANDA AMSTUTZ

FROM:

JONATHAN CASTRO

SUBJECT:

FINAL REFLECTIVE MEMO, ENGLISH 219

DATE:
CC:

UNM PRESIDENT

The curriculum for English 219 has, in simple terms, taught me how
to create and successfully communicate through multiple forms of
professional documents. Using a variety of different exercises, some
individual and some as a group, we were taught to brainstorm topics and
form those topics into well-crafted arguments. Throughout the semester we
were taught that a strong arguments utilizes the 5 rhetorical canons:
Invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. The recognition and
utilization of these canons will ensure that your argument is solid.
The first of the five canons is invention. This canon has to do with the
preliminary research regarding an assignment. Each project started with an
individual brainstorming session in which we came up with three topics.
Using feedback from group discussions and discussion boards we would
then choose which topic we would use for the assignment. In class free
writes gave us the opportunity to use class time to further our progress
while asking any questions while we were there. Each of these assignments
and activities were useful in molding our arguments and stressed how
important the invention portion or writing really is. The importance of this
canon is underestimated because if done correctly, your brainstorming
session should touch on all four of the other canons. From the beginning you
must be thinking about not only what your topic is going to be, but also who
your target audience is, which side of the issue you are on, how youre going
to make your argument relatable to your audience, and how you will deliver
the information.
The second canon is arrangement. This is the manner in which you
organize your information and argument in your paper. The first step in
organizing a paper is creating an outline, or a conceptual map of your paper
containing main points and supporting ideas. You can then build around
these main points adding in supporting evidence to strengthen your
argument. This canon is important because for each of our major writing
assignments we had to create a different form of document, each genre with

its own set of format requirements and therefore effecting the way we had to
arrange it. Arrangement includes the structure or writing, how and where
research points are presented, and can provide the audience with a sense of
ethos from the author. The proposal is the best example of this canon.
The next canon is style. As opposed to arrangement, which is the
organization of information, style is how the information is presented to the
audience. The style you write in should be dependent on you target
audience, providing need to know information in a way that is easy for your
audience to understand. For example if your target audience includes
children, more visual cues and simpler language might be more effective as
opposed to your target audience consisting of doctors. Properly crafting the
style of your argument allows you to communicate in a way that feels
comfortable to your audience, which in turn allows you to connect with your
readers on a more personal level. The proposal we created was a perfect
example of how style can affect the way a reader views your argument and
can also be the deciding factor for a reader trying to determine whether to
support your argument or not. Again, the proposal is an excellent example of
how this canon can be used.
The fourth and fifth canons are memory and delivery. Memory is
pertaining to drawing on personal experiences and memorizing information
in order to present it in a more professional and confident manner. Delivery
has to do with how you form your argument when presenting information in
person. A well-crafted delivery presents both pathos and ethos and in most
cases uses some form of visual aid. By using personal experiences and
establishing a connection to the audience, the person presenting can sway
the audience towards supporting them. The activity report presentation
taught me how to successfully deliver the information I was presenting to
my target audience.
Each assignment in this class has been aimed at teaching us how to
efficiently communicate in a professional manor. Aside from learning how to
structure our writing using each genre of document, we were also taught to
premeditate the effect our writing would have on our target audience. This
will be an extremely useful tool in the business world because for each
specific group of people, there is a certain way to write that will make them
more comfortable not only with your idea, but with you as a peer as well.
Each genre of document that we learned to create is useful information on
its own. Proposals, instruction sets, and activity reports are all very common

types of business documents and it is likely that someone entering the

business world will have to create some, if not all of them, at some point
during their career. The basic knowledge of professionally structured writing
and proper use of the rhetorical canons combined with the conceptual
mapping and target audience techniques have given me the tools not only to
communicate efficiently but also to shape my argument in a way that is
appealing, if not attractive, to the specific group that I am trying to convey
my information to. Depending on the situation, this ability to create ethos
and pathos through your writing may be the deciding factor on whether or
not you are promoted or granted money for research. As we were learning
each of these skills and techniques I thought them to be useful, but too small
to be significant. Now at the end of the semester, looking back at what we
have learned collectively, I can see that this class has given me both a solid
grasp on the principles of technical writing and a new way of mapping out
and creating arguments in general. These skills are extremely valuable and
transferable to a multitude of different business settings.